The HRGS was originally set up to assist those wishing to understand their local history and heritage. From the beginning we have worked with local schools, giving them copies of all of our publications and our magazine, as well as providing talks and tours to the students. The library manager of each of the local secondary schools has been our main point of contact and invited to accept our offer of honorary membership, giving them access to our meetings and resources.

Primary schools have taken part in our tours of Milton High Street and the Court Hall as well as other special events at the schools themselves, including archaeology mornings and old map sessions, or tours of the local church and grounds.

We are also working with other community groups providing afternoon and evening lectures. If your group would like such a lecture please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

An extention of this aspect of our work has lead to our oral history project which will be visiting various groups with a display of old photographs and asking people to share their memories. Some of these recordings will be available through the website and others will be transcribed and used in a book along with the photographs.

We have also run several twelve week courses on local history and archaeology and have more planned for the future. The courses are designed to be accessible with no previous experience required and informal but informative.

To help with our lectures, tours and courses we have purchased a number of personal portable hearing loops that can work with hearing aids or through a set of earphones. This has allowed many people with hearing difficulties to take an active part in our activities. Even our publications use a format designed to make them more accessible, such as using a clear bold type and comb binding to keep unruly pages under control!

We also provide support and advice for members of the public undertaking their own research. We get asked some very strange things sometimes but if there is something we do not know we can certainly help find it! We can even help a researcher put their findings into print in either The Archive or as a special publication (see Bibliotheca). The magazine and the website both provide a simple way of finding new information. We receive many letters from the public asking for leads, sharing a new discovery or even asking how their road got its name.

We also undertake research of our own, such as the Medieval Church Graffiti Project, which not only discovers many new things about our area, but allows people to get involved with real research under the guidance of an experienced local historian.

This aspect of our work is to receive a real boost with the advent of the new HRGS Research Centre. Here our members and the general public will be able to have access to a dedicated local history library, maps copies of manuscripts as well as micro film copies of many old documents.

From time to time, during our many projects, we come across things that need a little more than study. During our work on the ancient church in Murston the churchwarden showed us a Victorian drawing of the site. It had fallen into disrepair and needed urgent attention to keep it on view, HRGS member Chris Porter carried out the repair and added a new frame and backing. It is now as good as new and on display in the church. We have also donated funds towards the repair of the WWI War Memorial board, now hanging in Milton Court Primary School, and to the new memorial monument planned for Milton Regis churchyard. We were also pleased to help the Salvation Army 'Tsunami Appeal'.

The HRGS is here to help the wider community understand and enjoy our history and heritage, if you think we may be able to help or would like to become a member, sponsor or just make a donation please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .